


Last Request

by AloneShadow



Series: Pieces of Dominion [2]
Category: Dominion (TV)
Genre: Blushing Alex, Character Study, Cute Ending, Dark Thoughts, Hurt/Comfort, Power problems, The problems being the Chosen One
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-06
Updated: 2017-04-06
Packaged: 2018-10-15 09:14:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10553820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AloneShadow/pseuds/AloneShadow
Summary: Alex wasn't prepared for the pain the tattoo would cause. Reaching his limit, he will discover that even an Archangel can feel the fear.





	

Alex knew that something wasn’t right, he knew that the terrible pain all over his upper body wasn’t normal and that he couldn’t do anything about it. Not him, nor Nome, standing next to him after helped him lay down on the big, round bed in the Archangel’s nest, at the top floor of the Stratosphere. 

Nome kept watching him, worried and nervous, with no idea of what to do next: she removed his jacket and t-shirt, leaving him bare chest, but that doesn’t seemed to help much; the tattoos were unmoving at her eyes but if it was different for the Chosen One, she couldn’t tell. 

Alex groaned again, grasping the sheets in tight fist, “When… this is gonna end…?” he hissed after a bit, trying to keep his eyes open. 

She sat down next to him, “You see anything different? Maybe the tattoos are trying to tell you something.” 

With some effort, Alex pushed himself on his side, trying to balance himself on one arm, looking at the symbols, “They’re moving a bit but- but I don’t think… ugh-“ he shut his eyes again, forehead on the bed: it felt like hot stones were rolling all over his skin.

The doors of the elevator opened and Michael entered the attic, moving quickly to them, “What happened?” 

“He started to feel like this after his shift.” Nome said, “I thought was better to bring him here…” 

The Archangel nodded at her for the decision, and then crouched next to the bed to talk with the man, “Alex? How you’re feeling?” 

“What do you think?” he huffed, laying on his back, shutting his eyes in another flash of pain, “W-why it hurts so badly? Why doesn’t stop?” 

Michael checked his arm, and then looked sadly at him, shaking his head. He then looked back at the woman, “Nome, you can go. I’ll call you when he will feel better.” 

She almost said something, then seemed to change her mind and, looking at Alex, that nodded painfully, she did the same and left the room. 

“It- it has to s-stop, right?“ Alex asked, out of breath. 

“I hope so. You managed to read something in the symbols?” 

“Nothing…” Alex hissed again and managed to cut a scream only halfway, reducing it to a cry of pain, rolling on one side again. “Michael…” 

“I am here.” Came the voice of the Archangel, and… there was a hint of fear in his voice? “I’ll stay here until you’ll feel better.”

“You- you have to make it stop…” Alex blindly grabbed something- Michael’s arm, “You have to-“ 

“I wish I could, Alex. I’m sure there is a reason for this, you have to hold on a little longer.” He said, placing a hand over he’s. 

“Make it stop… please, make it stop…” Alex was almost crying, repeating these same words like a mantra for an infinite time that could be hours or just some minutes. “Make it stop!” he screamed when another painful flash hit, and he tightly grabbed that same arm with both hands.

Michael didn’t said anything, but he kept his hands tightly the same way, crouched at the end of the bed, next to him, placing his face through the blonde hair of the Chosen One, hoping that he could share his pain with him like that. 

“Please… it has to stop- kill me and make it stop…” 

The Archangel tensed so suddenly that probably even the younger man felt it.

Alex’s eyes were half closed, and he tightened the grip on his arm a bit. He tried to look up but Michael was standing up, leaving. Alex fell on his side again, too tired and in pain to do anything else, feeling also alone now… but that was fair, after all: caring about a crying human was too much for an Archangel.

Muffling his weak cries into the mattress, Alex hugged himself better than he could, trying to bare the torture. 

“I am here.” Came the flat voice of the Archangel, and after a moment there was also a blanket gently placed all over him. 

Alex couldn’t see the man or feeling him close, but he knew that Michael wouldn’t have lied to him… so, drowning in the pain, he stayed there, shivering at every sting of pain, his mind running too fast to follow and he lost consciousness trying so hard not to.

 

He had no idea of how much time has passed, but at some point Alex managed to open his eyes, feeling all his body sored from all the tension and the pain of before. He looked outside the window, Vega illuminated by the twilight; passing both hands over his eyes, he make a face and notice the little cut into his palms, probably because he clenched his fist too much. 

“Shit…” he whispered, slowly testing his fingers, then trying to sit on the bed, finding Michael sitting on the floor right there, back against the mattress. “Hey… you’re here.” 

“I promised.” 

“What time is it?” 

“Late afternoon.” 

Alex sighed at the thought of have lost almost an entire day. He looked at the symbols on his arms, “I don’t see any differences here…” he then looked at the other, still not turning around. “Michael?” he called, moving closer but to doing so, he pushed his hands on the mattress and couldn’t stop a little hiss of pain. Pulling up his hands instinctively to check the wounds, he found the Archangel’s grabbing them. 

Michael stared at the cuts for a long moment, “You were in so much pain?” 

“You were here. Do I looked like I was pretending?” Alex sighed patiently.

“No…” the Archangel kept his eyes of the wounds, a sad look on his face but, before the other one could say anything, he let him go and stood up, “I should have some bandages.” And disappear another little room on the left.

“I… I should call Nome, she’s probably worried sick.” Alex said slowly, sitting up. 

“I already told her that you were feeling better.” Michael said, coming back with the bandages and a bottle of alcohol. He sat down next to him and started to clean the cuts, keeping his hand on the wrist. 

“Uh…” Alex took a breath at the burning sensation, “Being gently isn’t really a thing for the angels.” He said with a shade on irony, but there was no response. Looking at him, he saw him focused on the medication but there was something else too… something in his eyes that looked a lot like anger. Unsure, Alex let him continue for a moment, until he was ready to use the bandages, “I can do that myself. Better if I go now.” 

Michael tightened his grip, forcing him to sit down again, “I’m not done, yet.” 

“I know how to bandage a hand.” 

“Me too.” And again, Michael pushed him down, “Why you’re so eager to run away, now?” 

“I’m not running away.” Alex was confuse. They stared at each other for a moment, then he added, “You looked bothered from- from all this, so I thought was better for me to leave.”

Michael narrowed his eyes in his typical cold, inquiring look, “ _Bothered_?”

“Yes.”

“ _From all of this_.” He added, and continued before he could speak, “What do you mean with that?” 

Alex was growing only more confused at that cold, angry tone, “Listen, I didn’t asked for these symbols and sure as hell wasn’t my intention to spend an entire day feeling them burning from the inside. Clearly I searched for some help in the wrong place.” He stood up again but the grasp on his wrist didn’t flinched, “Mind to you let me go?” 

“No.” 

“I’m fine now. Let me go.” He said again, and tried to push himself free.

Michael, instead, pushed him down, this time angrily enough that the young man had to use the other hand to balance himself, “And what kind of help you were searching for?” he asked, face hard and cold, “I can’t take back the symbols, nor make your pain disappear and you know that. If you were hoping for another type of help, like you asked me before, then no, you won’t find it here.” 

Alex was waving a bit the hand he used to balance, staring at him, frowning, “What?” 

“You think that it would be the solution to everything? Asking me to kill you and end the suffering? That’s only what it take to break you?”

“No, I- kill me? Wait, when did-“ 

“How you could ask me such a thing?” 

“Michael, I-“ 

“To me, of all the people.” 

There was a moment of silence after that. Alex was still partly unsure, trying to get back some memories of the day before, and he couldn’t remember to actually have asked him to kill him, but… yes, the pain was strong at some point, and sure Michael wouldn’t lie about something like that…

“I…” Alex felt a pang of pain, this time from the hand that was keeping his wrist pinned down, “I can’t really remember- I thought that was just my imagination…” he looked at him a bit sorry now, “Michael, that was because of the pain. Come on, you know that I would never-“ 

“No, I don’t know.” 

The Chosen one found himself with his mouth open but no words came out. That was something so unexpected… 

He tried to get free again, more by instinct to move his arm, but still no freedom there. “The pain was- it was terrible, I don’t know how much pain you can take, but I’m only human and that was… was enough to make me say stupid things like that. I didn’t mean that. I never thought to ask you something like that.” He tried to keep a calm voice, watching him staring in silence. He didn’t liked to be studied like that for so long and so close, especially from Michael, but move away was out of question and calm down an angry Archangel was never a fast and easy task… “Michael, come on…” he sighed, slowly trying to get free just because he didn’t know what else to do. 

“You think you can end the discussion like this?” 

“The discussion maybe not, but my wrist is going numb.” 

Michael took a deep breath and finally let him go. 

Alex massaged his poor wrist and said again, “I mean it. Whatever I said before, I wasn’t serious. I would never ask you to kill me. If I really wanted to end my life, I wouldn’t let you at all.” He tried to be ironic, but the lethal glare of the Archangel make him regret the attempt. “I’m sorry, ok? Sorry for- for speak without thinking while I was crying and screaming in pain.” He snorted,

After a long moment, Michael took a deep breath and looked down, sliding again sat on the floor, head on his hand. 

“I didn’t know that that was something forbidden to say, anyway.” Commented Alex, from the bed.

“You really don’t understand, do you? You know what you represent for me, for the whole humanity, how hard many people fought to bring you here today… just to find you wishing for your death? Asking to me for it?”

Alex looked down at him, thinking. “It would be so bad?” he asked, and saw him rise his head, “Just curious.” 

“Alex…” The voice of the Archangel was terrifying close to the growl of a demonic beast.

“I’m the Chosen One, answer me.” He deadpanned, hitting him with a foot. 

Michael took a deep breath before look at the window, a hand through his black, short hair, “It would be a defeat. My worst defeat, my biggest failure…” he shook his head, “and I never thought that I could’ve to face this risk with you as well.” 

Alex frowned a bit, and then understood, “My father.” He said, a hand on the one already bandaged, and saw him nod. He could still remember the dark memories he get back during their little trip outside Vega. “He asked you to…?” 

“Yes.” Michael took a breath, “But I managed to make him change his mind.” 

Alex stared at the dark hair of the Archangel for a while, sending some glare at the symbols all over his arm, “You could do it? Kill me?” he asked, slowly passing a hand on the tattoos, and when he didn’t answer, he looked back at him and found him staring again at him: there was no irony now. “If at some point I couldn’t do it anymore, if one day I just reached my limit and I asked to kill me… you would do it?” 

Michael was looking straight into his eyes, trying to hide the veil of fear that he discovered to feel hearing those words, only imagining the Chosen One lost in agony and despair, pleading for death. “No.” he answered in the end, “I would prefer to die, rather than lose the last hope left to this world… and a friend.”

Alex blinked, surprised, then tried to clear his throat with some coughs, “Well, that wasn’t an embarrassing answer to give, at all.” He said sarcastically.

Michael was the one frowning now, turning around and seeing a slight blush on his face. He blinked, curious, “It was?” 

“Way too much.” Alex cut short, but laugh a bit, sliding down to sit down next to him, “You can relax, though. If I ever will ask you to actually kill me, you’ll know that I am serious.” He finished bandaging his other hand, “But I doubt that will ever happen.” 

“How you know?” 

“Because we both know how stubborn Jeep was, and if you managed to change his mind, then you’ll probably convince me too. I wonder how, though… oh wait, I know: you can’t abandon the world, the human kind need you and all the prophetic legend…” 

Michael thought for a moment, then smiled slightly, “I would ask you to not abandon me. If that wouldn’t be enough, then-“ a blanket on his face cut him off. 

“Too much feeling shared for today. See you later.” Said Alex running away, hoping to hide his renewed blush. 

Michael stayed on the floor, covered with the sheet as if it was a poor-budget ghost costume, “I presume that would be enough.” He commented, and was easy to spot a calm smile in his voice.  
.  
.  
.

END

**Author's Note:**

> I feel Alex a bit off in this one, or more like here he was younger than in the season 1...


End file.
